First Impressions
by Celestia0909
Summary: A series of short stories and drabbles featuring some of my favourite first meetings, and meet-cutes, from film, television, and literature, adapted for die-hard fans of Harry Potter, and especially fans of the Marauders Era.


**First Impressions**

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**\- THE HOLIDAY -**

**[JAMES/LILY] [MUGGLE AU]**

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Lily groaned as another loud bang disturbed her slumber, it was the third time it had happened now and she huffed as she realised that she would actually have to get up and get the door. She rolled over on her side and groaned again when she saw the time on the analogue clock; who the hell showed up to someone's house at two in the morning, unannounced?

"Oh god," she sighed as the rapping on the door became louder and more persistent. Whoever was outside was either in a spot of bother, or drunk off their arse.

Her head spun as she pulled herself out of the warm weighted blankets and shoved her slippers and woolen cardigan on. The knocking was insistent and with each step she took towards the front door, the more her ire grew.

"Who is it?" Lily said, her hand on the doorknob as she tried to get a look at the other side through the crack between the door and frame.

"For Christ's sake, it's me!" A masculine voice said, although it was muffled by the wind. "Hurry up, it's bloody freezing!"

Lily frowned and kept the lock in place on the door. In the two days since she'd arrived in Godric's Hollow, everyone had been so kind and lovely - after all, most of the town seemed to be retired couples and their pets. She'd had no reason to feel unsafe in the village, but she could never be too sure.

"Who are you?" she said into the crack between the door and doorframe, making her voice a little louder as the wind howled furiously outside.

"Oh bollocks, Remus open the bloody door," the man shouted as he seemingly kicked the door. "Or I swear to god, I'll leak on the f-"

Lily quickly opened the door and her furrowed brows quickly shot up at the sight of the man on the other side. Upon first impressions, he looked rather handsome. Actually, scratch that - he was a complete hunk, but the first thing that caught her attention was the vibrant hazel eyes framed by bushy brows. She'd always loved people who had hazel eyes.

Lily was completely distracted when the stranger frowned and took a tiny step back, "Fuck me, you're not Remus." She opened her mouth to reply but stopped when he continued talking. "Or, if you are Remus, then I'm way more pissed than I realised."

"Pardon?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for the potty mouth, nasty habit of mine. But you must understand, I wasn't expecting to see you on the other side."

Lily's lips twitched as the stranger smiled, and god was he handsome when he smiled. "Well, I wasn't expecting you either."

A few awkward moments passed between them and Lily felt utterly lost as to what she should do. Clearly this man knew Remus, but it would also be strange to invite a complete stranger to her temporary home.

"Right, well whoever you are, do you mind if I just," he said sheepishly as he pointed towards the door next to the stairs. "Had a bit too much to drink, you see."

Lily nodded and took a step back, her movements jerky as her heartbeat quickened, "Oh yeah, of course, go for it! Yo-uh well I guess you had to-" God, she was making a complete ass of herself.

She caught a noticeable whiff of alcohol as he walked in and Lily quickly shut the door behind him; which was evidently a mistake. Once the door was shut, the cottage suddenly felt claustrophobic and Lily felt a blush creeping up her neck and chest.

"I'm James by the way," he said as she did an awkward little wave while he opened the door to the bathroom. "I'm Remus' best friend."

"Right, friend." He nodded. "I'm Lily Evans, I'm staying here for a bit."

"Lilyevans? Is that all one word? Odd sort of name isn't it?"

"No, two words. Lily and Evans."

He nodded at her, his face pensive before he winked and walked into the bathroom. The lock clicked shut and Lily huffed out the breath she'd subconsciously been keeping in.

"_Friend_," she mouthed quietly to herself. "_Why is he so hot!_"

The reason she had come to Godric's Hollow was to get _away_ from attractive young men, and it was just her luck that one would show up to her door at an ungodly hour in the night. It didn't help either that he seemed insanely charming and witty; better yet, he was about as similar to her ex, Severus, as a mouse was to a turtle.

"So, where is Remus anyway?"

"Oh, h-he didn't tell you?" Lily asked as she tightened her arms across her chest, suddenly feeling self-conscious as he towered over her.

"Well, he could have done, but as - well as you might've guessed, I'm a bit out of it," he admitted sheepishly. Lily snorted, of _course_ she had guessed, if the slightly slurred speech wasn't enough of a giveaway, maybe the noticeable scent of gin was.

"He's in Cokesworth."

He frowned again, he looked cute when he frowned, "Where's that?"

"Ireland."

He nodded and his frown grew deeper as he took his woollen beanie off and shook his hair out. Christ, even his _hair_ was sexy, and Lily couldn't help but stare as he ran his fingers through the inky black strands.

"Not possible, Remus _never_ goes anywhere."

"Well, it obviously _is_ possible. He listed this place on a home exchange website - kind of like Airbnb - and I found it. We're switching houses for three weeks, you know, just over the holidays sort of thing. He's in Ireland, at my house, and I'm here."

She didn't know why her face felt so warm, maybe it was the fact that the heater was up on the highest setting, or maybe because James had somehow taken his coat off and looked _even_ more attractive despite the hideous Christmas jumper he wore underneath.

"People actually do that?" She nodded. "Huh, go figure. Actually, now I do remember he texted last night, but I thought it was a load of tosh. I feel rotten about it now." Lily shrugged, she believed that he did feel bad. "Would you mind terribly if I sat down? I feel like I might fall onto you."

He didn't wait for an answer as he stumbled towards the plush old Chesterfield sofa and rested his head on the back of it, his eyes shut. While he gathered his thoughts, Lily took a moment to properly look at him.

Even though he was wearing a hideously designed and oversized Christmas jumper, she could tell that he was fit - in more ways than one. His hands lay flat on either side of his legs, resting against the sofa, and Lily noticed that they looked like they'd done some hard work, judging by the calluses and tiny hairline scars.

His face wasn't the most beautiful face she had ever seen. His nose was a little too long, his eyebrows were awfully bushy, and his lips were a little too wide for his face, but she found there was something quite enigmatic about him.

"Sorry about the intrusion."

"No it's o-"

"Nope, definitely not okay. Although it might be hard to believe, I am Remus' reputable and reliable best friend - or at least one of them. Anyway, I digress, our mutual best mate Sirius loves a good night out, and on the rare - okay maybe not so rare - occasion, I indulge his depraved delusions about acting like an irresponsible tool."

"What are you getting at?" Lily wondered aloud as she settled into the comfortable armchair next to the sofa.

"I'm getting there. Anyway, as I said, sometimes I join Sirius at the pub, and sometimes it gets a little out of hand - he owns the pub you see, so is at liberty to have as many drinks as he wants. No restraint. Nine times out of ten, I get so ridiculously pissed that Remus has to put me up," he pauses for a moment, and hiccups before continuing.

"Noble bloke, Remus is. Would rather I come here and bother him instead of letting me drive in this state. Pathetic excuse isn't it, but at least it's the truth. Anyway, 'nough about me, how's it all going so far? Before I ruined your night I mean."

Lily chuckled sardonically and shook her head, this man was getting more and more endearing the longer he spoke. "Honestly? It's not going so great. I think I'm going to go home tomorrow morning."

He nodded as he sat up on the sofa and ruffled his hair again, it seemed to be a nervous habit of his. "When did you get here?"

"Seven hours ago."

A huge grin crept onto his face and he scoffed while he rolled his sleeves up, "We've made a marvellous impression on you, haven't we?"

She shook her head and smiled, she couldn't help but feel so cheerful around this bloke, "No, it's not that at all. I-I'm just not myself right now." She paused and shook her head. "But you don't need to hear all of that."

"Well obviously not, but now I'm intrigued Lily Evans, what's brought you here?"

"Nothing, nothing. I came here on a silly whim, bonkers really. Honestly, I've never thought of anything less - it's not like me at all. But I'm being rude, do you want anything? Tea? Water? Hydralite?"

"Cheeky bird," he shook his head, "although now you've mentioned it, there is a bottle of gin in the cupboard. Fancy a glass?"

"I think that's the best thing you've suggested yet."

They had each had two glasses of gin each, and were fully caught up on their lives. She knew his full name, date of birth, star sign, favourite colour and food, and had even gotten into an argument over their favourite movie genres. He thought romantic comedies were a load of rubbish, and she thought action movies were the same plot but recycled and reused.

"So hang on, you still haven't explained why you've done an international house swap?"

Lily gulped down the rest of the gin in her glass and sighed as she slunk back into her chair, folding her legs up underneath her. She knew this topic would come up, he didn't seem like the sort of bloke to be distracted by trivial matters.

"I broke up with someone. Just yesterday actually."

"Christ, that's awful."

"Yeah, well I guess it was always going to happen. I just didn't think it'd happen so close to Christmas, and I didn't want to be alone over the holidays - bit of a funny situation with my sister you see - and Remus seemed rather in a tight spot too, so I thought why not?"

"Right, why not."

"Yeah. I thought maybe if I was on a mini-break, I wouldn't even realise that I'd be spending the holidays by myself and alone. Then I got here, and honestly I've never felt more alone in my life! Bet you wish you hadn't come _here_, huh?"

He had a funny sort of look on his face, like a cross between a smile and a grimace. His brows were furrowed, and his lips were pursed, but one of his dimples were showing as he looked at her. It was like he was trying to solve a puzzle, but really she wasn't that complicated to begin with. That is, if you ignored her prattish ex, insane sister, and completely mental brother-in-law.

"Honestly, I'm pretty chuffed I decided to come here."

Her palms felt sweaty as the all too familiar feeling of complete attraction took hold of her. She was attracted to him, completely. Attracted to his face, his body, his ability to keep a conversation going. The best thing was, that apart from the black hair, he reminded her of nothing of Severus.

"Yeah, right."

"No, seriously I am. For one, I find you way more attractive than Remus." She blushed at that, and scratched her collarbone. "And secondly, since you're feeling so lonely, would you want to have dinner with me tomorrow?"


End file.
